Press release

"Duterte cannot feign ignorance nor concern in the series of events that led to the killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, and other victims of his drug war. He has the obligation to put these police-murderers behind bars, but he should also account for his own responsibility in the said crime. It is easy to stack up all his pronouncements and orders which emboldened the police," said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay on the killing of Delos Santos, which, after autopsy reports, showed he was lying on the ground and defenseless when he was shot.

"Following verbal assault and open threats against human rights defenders by the President himself, several human rights defenders and other leaders belonging to people’s organizations have been targeted by State security forces. This is but a desperate attempt to silence them and derail their work. Such attacks are not new, but they have escalated following State policies that only embolden the police and the military to commit violations with impunity," said Karapatan secretary general on the recent spate of harassment against human rights defenders.

"It
is not the pathetic whining of AFP public affairs chief Col. Edgardo Arevalo
and the AFP that needs to be heard. The military's excuses and rhetoric are
desperate attempts to illicit sympathy. Rather, it is the voices of the Lumad
who have been most affected by military operations. It is their testimonies
that will give credence to the AFP’s abuses," said Karapatan secretary
general Cristina Palabay in response to Arevalo’s statement last Saturday,
August 19, 2017.

“Año is a psychopath who revels
in the blood of his victims. He has been responsible for violations in Mindanao
– massacres, killings, illegal arrests and harassment of indigenous and peasant
communities –violations which remain without justice. He is a delirious,
demented maniac who butchers activists and civilians, protected by State
machinery and impunity. If anyone would want to know how to get away with
murder, then AFP Chief Año, one of the US lapdogs in the Duterte Cabinet, is the
perfect person to ask,” said Jay Apiag, secretary general of Karapatan –
Southern Mindanao Region (SMR).

The cold-blooded killing of Kian
Loyd Delos Santos, 17 year old and a Grade 11 student, by police officers in
Brgy. 160 in Caloocan City is yet another proof that shows how those in power -
with guns and the capacity to distort the truth with planted evidence and a
staged crime scene - completely disregard the right to life of the poor, in the
course of and fully emboldened by Pres. Duterte's war on drugs.

(Photo taken during the wake of Delos Santos, courtesy
of Rise Up for Life and Rights)

On August 12, 2017,
leaders of Lumad groups received information that elements of the Armed Forces
of the Philippines (AFP) will intrude inside the University of the Philippines,
International Center where Lumad evacuees from Mindanao are currently staying.
Military agents and other government agencies are planning to go to UP to talk to the children and have them
return to Mindanao.

President Rodrigo Duterte's repeated threats and orders to shoot and kill human rights activists vocal on human rights violations of his State security forces, especially those opposing his bloody war on drugs, is exacerbating the already dire situation in the country. His fascist campaigns against poor Filipinos - the war on drugs, his counter-insurgency war, and martial law in Mindanao - have already resulted in the killing, displacement and threats to lives, among others. News reports on the killing of 32 drug suspects in a day in Bulacan and 18 individuals in a day in Manila indicate a long apparent brazenness and bloodlust of corrupt police forces against the poor. How can this be acceptable?

"These
racketeer-butchers are at it again. It does not suffice that they mercilessly
kill and violate the rights of individuals and communities, they just have to
device ways to make money out of it too! AFP Chief Eduardo Ano’s announcement
of a PhP100,000 bounty on the heads of New People’s Army members is set to
start a witch hunt that will have less to do with being an NPA, and more to do
with finding civilians that they can parade as members of the NPA. Itigil nyo yang pangraraket nyo!"
said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay on the recent AFP
pronouncement last August 10, 2017. The AFP also said that the bounty
includes the arrest of Islamic militants.

Karapatan
submitted its position paper on House Bill 1617, or the Human Rights Defenders’
Protection Bill, to the Committee on Human Rights, House of Representatives
today, August 15, 2017. The human rights organization expressed its full
support for the bill, authored by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, and its
pertinent provisions aimed at protecting human rights defenders (HRDs) who
already have ‘a foot in the grave’. Said provisions include access to documents
of government units and personnel, paramilitary units and personnel, military
affiliate and assets, and a measure wherein HRDs can file a motion to dismiss
fabricated criminal complaints filed to discourage their work.

In
time for the budget hearings of the Department of National Defense at the
Committee on Appropriations at the House of Representatives, Karapatan joined
the Save Our Schools (SOS) network and various people’s organizations in a
protest action against the proposed 2018 budget, particularly items in
furtherance of fascist and anti-people policies of the Duterte administration.